Photo of Bishop John Magee removed from parish church in Mitchelstown

A picture of disgraced Bishop John Magee has been removed from a parish church in the Cork diocese of Cloyne.

The Irish Examiner reports that parishioners in the town where the Bishop lived have removed his photograph from the wall of the Church of Our Lady Conceived Without Sin.
Ironically, the picture of Dr Magee had the words ‘Be Not Afraid, Follow Me’ written next to it.

The paper says that the decision to remove the picture was taken as people were upset and angered by the allegations made against Bishop Magee in the Cloyne Report.

The office of the new Archbishop of Cloyne, Dermot Clifford, has confirmed that the picture has been removed following the publication of the report into clerical sex abuse in the Diocese under Bishop Magee’s watch.

“The picture was put up on display some time ago to encourage vocations,” said a spokesman for the archbishop. “It was removed at the weekend because of concerns following the Cloyne report that it might upset parishioners.”

One parishioner, Tom O’Shea, who lives in Mitchelstown, said last week that he would not attend Mass in the parish church until the picture was removed.